Top 12 Stories Behind Brazilian Players Nicknames Pele This name came about due to Pele’s childhood habit of copying the play of his hero, goalkeeper Bile of Vasco de Sao Lourenco. When a local child cried ‘Bile’ while watching him play, it was misheard as Pele, and the name stuck from then on. Kaka Kaka got his nickname from his younger brother Digao who could not pronounce “Ricardo” calling him “Caca” instead which evolved into Kaka, and while it might not mean anything in Portuguese in several other languages it is a term used for poop. Dunga Due to his diminutive stature as a child, this defensive midfielder was named by his uncle after one of the seven dwarfs, namely Dopey, or ‘Dunga’ in Portugese. Robinho The also diminutive Robson de Souza is better known by the name of Robinho – or ‘Little Robson’, as its direct translation goes. Ronaldinho Contrary to popular opinion, Ronaldinho actually has the same name as Brazilian forward Ronaldo. This obviously woudn’t do, so the word ‘inho’ meaning little was added to his name. Garrincha Interestingly enough, this brilliant footballer was named after a small, brown bird which is native to his native town of Pau Grande. Tostao Eduardo Goncalves de Andrade grew up playing with much older children, who named him after the name of a small and little-valued coin of the time. Pato Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva is more straightforwardly named after the city of Pato Branco in Parana state from where he hails. Grafite Edinaldo Batista Libanio was named thus apparently due to his pencil thin legs. Hulk One of the most famous nicknames of all-time, Givanildo Vieira de Souza was named after the actor Lou Ferrigno, who played the comic book character. Ganso Paulo Henrique Chagas de Lima is named after the common or garden goose due to light-hearted comments made by a former trainer. Juninho Pernambucano Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Jr. became Juninho for understandable reasons before another Juninho joined the Brazilian national side, at which point he was partially named after his home state.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 11:34:43 +0000
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